Man Charged After Running on Tarmac at O'Hare Airport

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A Chicago man was charged Sunday after he allegedly ran onto the tarmac at O’Hare Airport Saturday.

Chicago Police responded to the disturbance at O’Hare Airport around 3:15 p.m. for a man in an “unauthorized area of the airfield,” according to Chicago Police News Affairs Officer Jose Estrada.

The man was not armed and was taken into custody, Estrada said.

Ardell Walker, 23, of the 5200 block of West Van Buren Street, was charged with felony criminal trespassing in a restricted area and a misdemeanor count of resisting a peace officer, according to authorities.

“The incident had no impact on flight operations and posed no apparent threat to the traveling public,” Karen Pride, spokesperson for the Chicago Department of Aviation, said in a statement.

A witness on a flight from Chicago to Detroit said the man “jumped a perimeter fence and ran toward the plane.”

“[Flight crews] said he jumped a fence, which is about a half-mile away,” said Mario Hernandez.

Hernandez said the flight’s captain said the plane almost hit the man and that he “started waving” in front of the plane.

Police said Walker ran from a responding officer after the officer ordered him to stop and show his hands.

The man fled and the officer pursued him on foot. The chase continued to where an American Airlines flight was taxiing. Walker was ordered to stop and show his hands a second time, but did not. The officer saw the approaching plane and wrestled Walker to the ground, where he continued to struggle, but was eventually taken into custody, police said.

Walker suffered a gash on his leg and was treated at a nearby hospital. The sergeant suffered cuts to his hands and was treated at the police station by Chicago Fire Department officials.